GEORGE LAMBERT

Collection of Sir Tom Barr Smith; thence by descent
Private collection, Sydney 

Lambert Memorial Exhibition, Anthony Hordern's Fine Art Gallery, Sydney, 25 September - 15 October 1930, no. 22

Anne Gray, George Lambert 1873-1930 Catalogue Raisonné (Paintings and Sculpture, Drawings in Public Collections), Bonamy Press, Canberra in association with Sotheby's Australia and the Australian War Memorial, 1996, no. P183, p. 60

This work has not been lined and has the original stretcher. Significant crazing across picture surface, some paint loss top right corner and along top edge on frame rebate and section of paint loss approx. 4 by 2 cm lower left corner. Number of fly spots across surface. UV inspection confirms no retouching.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

At the beginning of World War I George Lambert was living in London and enjoying a successful career as a portraitist. Some of these works - the full-length of the Australian Prime Minister Sir George Reid (1913-14, Historic Memorials Collection, Parliament House, Canberra), for example, or the three-quarter of Frederick Andrews, headmaster of Ackworth School (1914, coll. Ackworth School, Pontefract, Yorkshire) - were painted on commission. Others were primarily conceived as exhibition pieces: complex figure groups such as the celebrated Important People (1914, Art Gallery of New South Wales); more intimate, personal works such as the portrait of the singer Florence Schmidt, wife of Lambert's friend and colleague, the English sculptor Derwent Wood (1914-15, Queensland Art Gallery); and pictures of 'types', such as The Maid (1915, Art Gallery of New South Wales), The Smiling Sister (1915, Art Gallery of New South Wales) and The Smile of Pan (1915, Art Gallery of New South Wales).

While the present work is unfinished and the identity of its sitter unconfirmed, it has the look of one of these latter, 'fancy dress' portraits. The subject's dark, almond-shaped eyes and high cheekbones and her scarlet gown and tall, soft black hat suggest some exotic ethnic quality. Anne Gray has suggested that the portrait may be of Elspeth Champcommunal, a friend of the modernist artist and critic Roger Fry and in later life a well-known London fashion designer.¹

1. Anne Gray, George Lambert 1873-1930 Catalogue Raisonné (Paintings and Sculpture, Drawings in Public Collections), Bonamy Press, Canberra in association with Sotheby's Australia and the Australian War Memorial, 1996, nos. P182 & P183, p. 60